Line #11 LaserGuidedKarma/SpongeBobSquarePants


1	LaserGuidedKarma in ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''
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3	* Squidward's horrific luck was initially presented as a product of this trope due to his {{jerkass}} attitude. As the show evolved, however, his ButtMonkey role became less provoked and leaned more into ComedicSociopathy territory. Now he's widely considered the show's biggest [[TheWoobie Woobie]].
4	** This also makes the moments where he finally gets his revenge, or when karma hits either [=SpongeBob=] or his high school nemesis, Squilliam Fancyson, all the more satisfying.
5	* Mr. Krabs tends to be a victim of this in episodes centered on him. [[TemporarilyAVillain These are the episodes when he's at his greediest and being antagonistic.]] A good example would be in "Patty Hype", where he cons [=SpongeBob=] out of the Pretty Patty Stand, only to face the wrath of the customers when the side effects kick in. Essentially, Krabs was [[MisplacedRetribution punished for something that wasn't his fault]], but he still deserved it for making fun of [=SpongeBob=]'s idea earlier on and only siding with it for the money it brought in.
6	** In the ending of "Patty Caper", when Mr. Krabs is revealed to be the one who stole his own secret ingredient to avoid paying (and tried to make [=SpongeBob=] take the fall for it), he is rightfully punished into giving away free Krabby Patties for a day, in addition to watching [=SpongeBob=] hand them out.
7	** In "One Coarse Meal", [=SpongeBob=] gives one to Mr. Krabs to get back at him for tormenting Plankton, by telling Plankton of Mr. Krabs' fear of mimes and creeping him out.
8	** In "The Cent of Money", Mr. Krabs is forced to use all the loose change he found to pay for his hospital bill, after spending the entire episode using Gary and nearly harming him.
9	** In "Buff For Puff", Mr. Krabs [[CrazyJealousGuy accuses Larry of trying to steal Mrs. Puff from him]]. He soon resorts to stealing the lobster's muscular shell and showing off with it, at which point Mrs. Puff actually decides to dump him for Larry, with the crab begging her to come back to him.
10	* Plankton's schemes to steal the Krabby Patty always fail... except the one in [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie the first movie]], where he frames Mr. Krabs for stealing King Neptune's crown, steals the formula when it becomes unguarded, popularizes his Chum Bucket restaurant with the Krabby Patties, and, when Squidward catches on to his plan, uses his technology to brainwash everyone in Bikini Bottom and become its ruler. But in the end, [=SpongeBob=] recovers the crown and, through use of a [[ItMakesSenseInContext music number]], breaks the mind control devices. Plankton is trampled into a puddle and then arrested.
11	* In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E15SleepyTimeSuds Suds]]", when [=SpongeBob=] gets sick from the titular illness and decides to see a doctor, Patrick convinces him that the doctor's office is a horrible place and tries to treat [=SpongeBob=] himself, which, naturally, backfires horribly. When [=SpongeBob=] finally does see a real doctor and gets a rather relaxing treatment, he gets a giant PostTreatmentLollipop out of it, so [[PlayingSick Patrick claims to have the suds himself]] to get his own, only for him to end up receiving [=SpongeBob's=] treatment in a harsh manner: being rubbed against a cactus and used to clean a toilet bowl as he yells that his treatment doesn't seem right.
12	* Squidward gets a good one in "The Splinter", for teasing and bullying [=SpongeBob=] over the splinter in his thumb and driving him into near-insanity when he tells him Mr. Krabs could send him home if he sees his condition. Instead, Mr. Krabs removes the splinter and reveals he almost paid [=SpongeBob=] his "worker's compensation", which means employees who cannot come to work still have to get paid. Squidward, upon realizing this, injures his head with the cash register so he can receive his worker's comp, but Mr. Krabs says he cannot be paid because his shift ended two minutes ago.
13	* [=SpongeBob=] himself is dealt with this from time to time. On some occasions, it either involves Patrick dragging him into his convoluted antics or Squidward being fed up with their antics.
14	** In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E9NaturePantsOppositeDay Opposite Day]]", [=SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward=] are all hit with this at the end. Fed up with [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick pestering him just one too many times, Squidward decides to sell his house, but the real estate agent he hired would foresee another sale about to fall through due to troublesome neighbors, so Squidward tries to make up the titular holiday so [=SpongeBob=] stays out of his way. It backfires when Patrick wants to partake in the so-called holiday. When they "remodel" [=SpongeBob's=] house by destroying it, Squidward is forced to fix it, thinking he'll never sell his home with [=SpongeBob=]'s house in such atrocious conditions. While Squidward fixes [=SpongeBob's=] house, Sponge and Patrick impersonate Squidward at the same time the real estate agent shows up. Moments after Squidward finishes fixing [=SpongeBob's=] house, he sees too late his two neighbors harassing her, at which point she storms off in a huff and refuses to sell Squidward's house. As a result, [=SpongeBob and Patrick=] get a proper comeuppance from Squidward when he uses the bulldozer he used earlier to clean up the mess they made of [=SpongeBob's=] house to [[ChasedOffIntoTheSunset chase them off into the sunset]].
15	** In "Hooky", [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick refuse to follow Mr. Krabs' warnings to avoid fishing hooks. It ends with [=SpongeBob=] having his clothes ripped off with a hook (courtesy of Squidward) and running home in utter embarrassment, while Patrick finds himself sealed shut inside a tuna can, just as Krabs had warned about.
16	** In the final scene of "Squid's Visit", Squidward sleeps in the replica of his room in [=SpongeBob's=] pineapple, with [=SpongeBob=] and Gary sleeping outside on the burnt wreckage of Squidward's house, as indirect karma for all the pain and suffering [=SpongeBob=] caused him throughout the episode for trying to get Squidward to visit him. Not that he minds it, however.
17	** [=SpongeBob=] gets it really hard in "A Pal For Gary", where Puffy Fluffy rightfully awards him for being a complete jerk toward Gary by trying to eat him alive after Gary warned him too many times Puffy was the monster that caused all the damage to the house.
18	** In "Jolly Lodgers", after ''everything'' [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick did to Squidward, they get a rightful comeuppance for ruining his peace and quiet and outright refusing to leave him alone and convince him to come to the jellyfish convention, when he calls pest control and Hotel Halibut gets steamed with green haze, forcing all the jellyfish fanatics to leave.
19	** In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS13E9 Patrick the Mailman]]", Patrick decides to deliver the mail after the new rock he ordered accidentally crushes his mailman and [=SpongeBob=] appoints himself his postal pal. From [[ChimneyEntry Chimney Entries]] to delivering mail to the wrong recipients (such as a jury duty summons for Bubble Bass being instead delivered to Kevin C. Cucumber) to hijacking mail trucks so they can deliver more mail, it attracts the attention of ''real'' mail carriers, who take action to recover the stolen truck. At the end of the episode, [=SpongeBob and Patrick=] are delivered to jail ''in a large envelope'' for theft of mail and grand theft auto for stealing the mail truck; this is TruthInTelevision, as tampering with the mail, especially so much as impersonating a mail carrier, is a federal crime.
20	* Both Mrs. Puff and [=SpongeBob=] at the end of "Demolition Doofus" get a proper comeuppance for attempted murder and BullyingTheDisabled when the boating school comes crashing down atop them. [=SpongeBob=] also gets a minor comeuppance for insulting Mrs. Puff's condition and [[NeverMyFault not owning up to causing it]] when the doctor injects him with an anesthetic.

Context LaserGuidedKarma / SpongeBobSquarePants